Arrangement for the discharge of goods from a railbound car through its bottom



Jmw y 1970 THORNANDEH ARRANGEMENT FOR THE DISCHARGE OF GOODS FROM A RAILBOUND CAR THROUGH ms BOTTOM Filed Aug. 11. 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mm m an... 5 5 m Jan. 6, 1970 l. THORNANDER 7,

ARRANGEMENT FOR THE DISCHARGE OF GOODS FROM A RAILBOUNU CAR THROUGH ITS BOTTOM Filed Aug. 11, 196'? 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,487,963 ARRANGEMENT FOR THE DISCHARGE OF GOODS FROM A RAILBOUND CAR THROUGH ITS BOTTOM Ingemar Thornander, Safllegatan 4, Farsta 1, Sweden Filed Aug. 11, 1967, Ser. No. 659,975 Int. Cl. B65g 65/62, 65/34 U.S. Cl. 214-63 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A railbound car with a bottom hingedly connected to the car body along a longitudinal edge of one side thereof and supportable on a rail or rails describing curves constituting partial helices about, and at constant radial distance from, the longitudinal axis about which the bottom is hinged. During a discharge operation the car body is guided and supported by beams with rolls and an opening motion is guided by the rail or rails.

This invention relates to an arrangement adapted for discharging goods from a railbound car through its bottom which by hinges is connected with the remaining car body, said body during the emptying operation being supported by beams with rolls, in such a manner, that the bottom by means of one or several supporting wheels rests against one or several rails which describe curves for rendering the bottom possible to be lowered by its own weight and the weight of the goods when the car is being moved along its line, and thereby to effect an emptying operation.

In known arrangements of this type the hinges are mounted at the front edge of the car body, and the rail or rails describe steep downward curves in the vertical plane. During the emptying operation, goods fall down over the rails and to the side thereof, which involves the risk that the rails are subjected to impacts and damage, particularly in the case of greater pieces of goods, as for example in ore-mining. Owing to the necessary steepness of the curves, the car subsequent to an emptying operation cannot be moved back on the same line, but for this purpose a special dead-end siding must be laid to the side of the discharge place, which involves high expenditures.

These shortcomings are eliminated by the invention which substantially is characterized in that the hinges are mounted between one longitudinal side of the bottom and of the car body, and the curves for the rail or rails constitute helical lines running about and at a constant perpendicular distance to the line which is generated by the shaft of the hinges.

Two embodiments of the invention are described below in a greater detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings whereon FIGS. 1 and 2 show one of the embodiments seen from the side and from above respectively,

FIG. 3 shows a section along the line A-A in FIG.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show the other embodiment seen from the side and from above respectively, and

FIG. 6 shows a section along the line B-B in FIG. 5.

According to the first embodiment, a car for piece goods comprises a car body 1 which by hinges 2 provided below on one longitudinal side is secured to a bottom 3. On the lower surface of said bottom two pairs of bearing blocks 4 are mounted, in which blocks wheel axles 5 with wheels 6 are supported. Said wheels usually carry the car during transports on a track 7 which terminates at a pit 8 serving as the discharge place. In addition to the wheels 6 which are located below the longitudinal sides of the hot-- tom close to its ends, also a central supporting wheel 9 s provided, the axle of which is supported in a bearmg block 10. The wheel 9 is applied only during the emptying operation proper and co-operates thereby with a. special supporting rail 11. The same applies also to guide bars 12 which are provided at the upper edge of the longitudinal sides of the car body and during the emptying operation rest against rolls 13 on supporting beams 14 mounted on both sides above the pit 8.

The arrangement according to the invention operates as follows. A number of abovedescribed cars which are coupled together by couplings (not shown) secured on the car body, are driven, for example by a locomotive, on the track 7 to the pit 8. When the first of said cars approaches the pit and leaves the track 7, its car body is supported and guided by the beams 14 disposed on the same level as the lower surface of the guide bars 12. Instead of by the wheels 6 which have left the track 7, the bottom 3 then is supported by the supporting wheel 9 resting against the supporting rail 11. The said supporting rail extends past the pit in a curve having its starting point directly before the end point of the track 7 and terminating on the opposite side of the pit where the track 7 continues. The supporting rail 11 is laid in a mirror symmetric manner on both sides of the central line of the pit, and according to the invention it is formed after a curve which constitutes a helical line at a constant perpendicular distance from the line generated by the shaft of the hinges. The pitch of the helical line varies between positive and negative infinity values (when no closing or opening movement takes place) and between a positive and a negative final value (in the case of a maximum closing and opening movement respectively). Furthermore, the helical line moves only part of a revolution about its central line, in this case about 45 which is a practical value.

According to the second embodiment which is shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, the car bottom is divided into two halves, a front half 15 and a rear half 16. Both of these halves are hinged about hinges 2 below on one longitudinal side of the car body, and each of said halves is provided on the lower surface with wheel axles 5 and wheels 6 mounted in bearing blocks 4. The wheels rest permanently against the two rails 17 and 18 of the track 7, which rails at the discharge place from some kind of parallel helical lines about and at a constant perpendicular distance to the path described by the shaft of the hinges when a car is passing. In a car entering the discharge place, thus, the front wheel pair first run in on the helical curves whereby the front bottom half opens by its own weight and by the Weight of the goods, and an emptying operation is commenced. For the subsequent wheel pair the procedure is the same, and when the car has reached the centre of the discharge place, both of the bottom halves are in a maximum position as shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. In this position the two rails run in a straight line in parallel with the guide bars 12 but they are on a lower level and form a track with about 45 inclination. At the continued movement of the car the bottom halves are returned to closed position in that the rails transform into helical lines mirror symmetric to the previous rails.

During the emptying operation the car body 1 is guided and supported by the beams 14, and the opening motion of the bottom halves 15 and 16, thus, need be guided only by one rail, preferably the rail 17 which is located at the greatest distance from the hinges 2 and, therefore, is subjected to the smallest load. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, thus, the track on which the emptying is to be made, has no rail 18.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for the automatic discharging of material from a wheel-supported railway vehicle as it moves past an unloading station,

said railway vehicle having at least one bottom member hingedly connected to a longitudinally extending side of the vehicle which is adapted to be opened for side unloading said vehicle,

said hinged bottom member having at least one wheel which rides upon a supporting rail that normally supports said hinged bottom member in a closed position,

means at said unloading station for supporting both sides of said vehicle at a predetermined height as said vehicle moves past said unloading station,

said supporting rail at said unloading station defining a path which permits downward rotation of said bottom member about its hinge to open the bottom of said vehicle at said unloading station while said vehicle is otherwise supported at least in part by said vehicle means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said supporting rail defines a helical path extending downwardly and also laterally relative to the axis of the hinge of said hinged bottom member at such unloading station but remains at a substantially constant distance perpendicularly from the axis of said hinge of said hinged bottom member, whereby said one wheel remains in contact with said rail throughout the unloading operation.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 in which said supporting rail defines a helical path which is symmetrical on both sides of the location at which maximum opening of said hinged bottom member occurs, whereby said supporting rail upon continued movement of said vehicle causes upward rotation of said hinged bottom member to close the vehicle bottom as the vehicle moves past said unloading station.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said supporting means includes a pair of parallel rails extending along the respective sides of each vehicle at least at said unloading station, and means on said vehicle engaging with said rail to support said vehicle.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said vehicle comprises two hinged bottom members each supporting a respective wheel which bears against a supporting rail.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said vehicle is provided with at least four wheels which normally support and convey said vehicle over a pair of track rails, the wheels on at least one side of said vehicle being operatively connected to said hinged bottom member, said track rail for said wheels on said one side being curved helically downwardly and laterally at said unloading station to lower said wheels on said one side and thus also open said hinged bottom member.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said vehicle is provided with at least four wheels which normally support and convey said vehicle over a pair of track rails, at least one auxiliary wheel being operatively connected to said hinged bottom member and riding upon said supporting rail which is in addition to the track rails that normally support and convey said vehicle.

8. A railway car adapted for automatic dumping of its load as it passes an unloading station at which the upper body portion of the car is supported at a predetermined level by a support means and at least one bottom actuating car wheel is supported on one rail whose distance from said predetermined level increases at said unloading station to thereby lower the level of support of said car wheel relative to said upper body portion,

said car comprising an upper body portion having fixedly joined side and end walls and at least one bottom member hingedly connected to one side wall of said upper body portion,

car wheels operatively connected to said hinged bottom member,

means on said upper body portion for coupling said car into a train,

and means on each side wall of said upper body portion of said car for operatively engaging with the support means at the unloading station to support said upper body portion,

said bottom actuating wheel being operatively connected to said car bottom member whereby said lowering of said car wheel at said unloading station relative to said predetermined level opens the car bottom to discharge its load to one side of the track rails.

9. The railway car of claim 8 which includes four wheels each operatively connected to said hinged bottom member and arranged to support said car on a pair of track rails and one of said four wheels constitutes said bottom actuating car wheel.

10. The railway car of claim 8 which includes four wheels each operatively connected to said hinged bottom member and arranged to support said car on a pair of track rails and said bottom actuating wheel comprises a fifth auxiliary wheel adapted to run along a helically curved guide rail at said unloading station.

11. The railway car of claim 10 in which said fifth auxiliary wheel is operatively connected to said hinged bottom member along the side thereof opposite its hinged side.

12. The railway car of claim 11 in which said fifth auxiliary wheel is operatively connected to said hinged bottom member substantially at the midpoint of said opposite side of said bottom member.

13. The railway car of claim 8 which includes two hinged bottom members each having a bottom actuating wheel operatively connected thereto.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 637,427 11/1899 Stammler 214-58 XR 1,412,869 4/1922 Holstein 214--63 2,719,636 10/1955 Berg 214-63 3,211,305 10/1965 Davenport et al. 214-62 ROBERT G. SHERIDAN, Primary Examiner 

